Restitching the Quilt

“American Exceptionalism” is the belief that the United States has a unique history and a special calling. Founded as a “city upon a hill," America was destined to be a beacon to the world. Noted first by Alexis de Tocqueville, belief in American exceptionalism has lately become a political litmus test for the far right – like defunding Planned Parenthood, open carry and wall construction. But consider this: the U.S. is the only nation, so far as I know, whose motto celebrates a union created from diverse parts. For the Continental Congress, E Pluribus Unum meant a union created from “the countries from which these United States have been peopled.” It has long been America’s defining myth: a “nation of immigrants,” a melting pot or patchwork quilt that will “tear anywhere sooner than in the seams.”

We have not lived up to our national ideal, and too often we have used it to conceal an uglier reality. Yet we have never quite relinquished the dream. It remains the measure by which we judge ourselves – even for those to whom the dream has been denied. “I still have a dream,” said Dr. King in 1963, “to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood.” However much or often we fail, we are still called back to what Lincoln deemed “the better angels of our nature.”

“But especially the people,” sang the blacklisted Paul Robeson, “that’s America to me.”

More than greatness, we need to restitch our exceptional quilt.